It is known in the art relating to dressings for the protection of wounds or indwelling catheters to use self-adherent protective bandage tape or clear film product alternatives that use non-sensitizing hypoallergenic adhesives to cover all or part of the intravenous catheter site. Some dressings combine non-woven tape and absorbent gauze-like materials which have surfaces of non-adherent film to reduce the effect of adhesive stripping. The absorbency and bacterial barrier of the pad typically varies minimally from one manufacturer to another, but this type of dressing is least occlusive to moisture vapor.
Conventional transparent type dressings are associated with greater accumulations of moisture, blood or serum underneath their protective film layers and consequently experience higher rates of insertion site colonization. The need exists for a transparent type dressing having the ability to absorb fluids from the wound it covers or the surface of the skin on which it is mounted.